British Airways captain with coronavirus unwittingly flew plane full of passengers to Saint Lucia and is now in isolation on the island

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(Dailymail.co.uk) – A British Airways captain suffering from coronavirus unwittingly flew a plane filled with passengers to Saint Lucia and is now in isolation on the Caribbean island. 

Another member of the crew who showed symptoms of the killer virus is now in self-isolation and awaiting a test result.

The captain, who has not been named, had piloted a British Airways 777 jet flight from Gatwick last Tuesday.

After BA 2159 landed the crew were given temperature test by health officials as they walked through passport control at Vieux Fort airport.

The captain and a member of the flight crew exhibited a high temperature and were not allowed to board the bus with other members of the crew taking them to the terminal.

Instead, they were taken to hospital for tests and placed in self isolation a precaution

A source at the St Lucia Health Department said the BA captain, who is aged 53, tested positive for the virus.

He lives in France and commutes to Heathrow for his long haul flights.

He was only the second person to have contracted Covid-19 on the island and will remain in self-isolation.

A spokesman for the St Lucia Health Department said: ‘A man from France who travels widely has tested positive. He is now in a medical facility.’

Passengers on the nine-hour flight are not thought to have come into the contact with the pilot.

A BA source said: ‘The captain was not showing any signs of the virus when the flight took off but developed them during the flight.

‘Other crew were on a bus waiting to take them to the terminal when they noticed their captain was not with them. Another member of the cabin crew failed to get the bus and the crew were told they were unwell and undergoing tests as they were showing the symptoms of coronavirus.’

The co-pilot of the BA flight is understood to have been placed in self isolation but other crew members have been told they only need to self isolate if they start to show symptoms.

All flights to the Caribbean island will be halted from Tuesday 17th as the St Lucian Government attempt to stop the spread of the virus.

A spokesman for the St Lucia Department of Health said: On Saturday, March 14, 2020, Saint Lucia recorded its second case of COVID-19.

The patient is a 53-year-old male with active travel history, with France being his last port of departure.

The patient arrived in Saint Lucia on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 in the company of colleagues. He entered into our health care system on Friday, March 13, 2020, and based on the patient’s travel history and symptoms, health professionals suspected COVID-19.

He was placed in isolation at a medical facility and a sample was collected on the same day and sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency CARPHA where laboratory tests confirmed a positive result.

The patient and his care team have been informed of the results.

He was placed in isolation at a medical facility and a sample was collected on the same day and sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency CARPHA where laboratory tests confirmed a positive result.

The patient and his care team have been informed of the results.

To date, this now brings the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded in Saint Lucia to two. The first case was diagnosed one day prior, on Friday, March 13, 2020.

A team has been dispatched to conduct contact tracing and the quarantine of contacts of the patient. This is being done to ensure that all persons who have been in contact with this individual is assessed and managed as per protocol.

A spokesman for British Airways said they do not comment on individual cases.

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